Who'd have thought that BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM would have been as big a hit as it is right now in America? I sure didn't when I saw it (the UK DVD). For one thing, I didn't expect anyone to know who Beckham is out here, nor did I expect that American audiences would appreciate a British film about an Indian girl playing football (soccer). Well, it opened in limited release here in the US, and has performed surprisingly well at the box office ever since. So what exactly makes the film so damn appealing?

A lot of BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM's appeal lies in the strength of its two young lead actresses, one of which is a newcomer (to film), the other is a relative newcomer to starring roles. Parminder Nagra gives a really amazing first performance as BECKHAM's lead character, Jess. Parminder's Jess is an incredibly likeable character, and her acting skills are just as believeable. It's going to be great to see what the future has in store for Parminder. However, the highlight of the film for me had to be the beautiful (that's not to say that Parminder Nagra isn't attractive, cause she is) Keira Knightley, who had since remained fairly unknown to me. Keira is wonderful as Jess' friend, Jules. Keira hits all the right notes, and boy, is that accent ever so sexy. With the release of BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM, it was no surprise that Keira's star has sky-rocketed. She'll soon be in starring roles all over the place, and rightfully so.

To make things even better, the supporting cast of the film is just as good as the leads. Playing Jess' father is Anupam Kher. Looking at his filmography, you'll notice that he's been in over 130 films since 1984. Anupam is impressive in BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM, and he has a certain screen presence that you only sense from veteran actors. Playing Jess' mother is Shaheen Khan, who's not been in many films. She was mainly chosen, I think, because she can play the role of the stereotypical Indian mother very well. Her role is somewhat comical, but she handles it well enough. Archie Panjabi plays Jess' older sister. Most of the time she acts like a typical older sister (i.e. a bitch), but I dug it. I would have liked to see more of her because, let's face it, she's pretty easy on the eyes.

On the other side of things are British actors Frank Harper and Juliet Stevenson, playing Jules' parents. Frank Harper has the same screen presence as Jules' father as Anupam Kher does as Jess' father. He does a great job. Juliet Stevenson, coincidentally, is hired to do the same thing that Shaheen Khan does. She plays the stereotypical mother character, but she also does it well. In fact, there's truly not a single character in the film that is unlikeable, and there's not a single actor who doesn't do a great job. Finally, and most important of all, is Irish actor Jonathan Rhys-Meyers as Jules' and Jess' coach, Joe. Jonathan does a fantastic job, but then again, he's a damn fine actor as it is. All he does is bring some more talent to a nicely well-rounded cast.

Direction by Gurinder Chadha, based on her story/screenplay, is very nice. It's funny, because the story has been done before, and much of the plot is very predictable, but it's done in such a fresh way that you'd be hard-pressed not to fall in love with it. The pace of the film is brisk considering it's a bit longer than your average romantic comedy type film (clocking in at almost 2 hours). However, as a warning for some, don't watch BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM for scenes of action-packed football (soccer) matches. The football matches are merely there to provide a segue to the real meat of the film - any scene with acting in it.

Overall: A film that is a must-see, in my opinion. Amazing performances by the entire cast make this a film that transcends its sometimes predictable storyline and turns it into one of the most enjoyable movies of the past year. Highly recommended.